Death of a Salesman ACT 1 Quotes

HAPPY: I bet he'd back you. 'Cause he thought highly of you, Biff. I mean, they all do. You're well liked, Biff. That's why I say to come back here, and we both have the apartment. And I'm tellin' you, Biff, any babe you want...

Happy really is like Willy Jr. Just like his dad, Happy draws a direct link between popularity and success. Also like his dad, Happy is a little loose with the ladies.

HAPPY [enthralled]: That's what I dream about Biff. Sometimes I wanna just rip my clothes off in the middle of the store and outbox that *******ed merchandise manager. I mean I can outbox, outlift and outrun anybody in that store, and I have to take orders from those petty, common sons of bitches till I can't stand it anymore.

Happy's compulsion to tear off his clothes and attack his coworkers in the office may reflect his frustration with the importance of appearances. Though Happy is pretty obsessed with looking good himself, it seems that sometimes he wants to rip it all away and act like an animal.

LINDA: How'd the Chevy run? WILLY: Chevrolet, Linda, is the greatest car ever built. LINDA: No, they did a wonderful job. Then you owe Frank for the carburetor. WILLY: I'm not going to pay that man! That g0ddamn Chevrolet, they ought to prohibit the manufacture of that car!

Stepping out of the myths he's created about himself and realizing his true financial situation, Willy immediately expresses a complete change of opinion about his car. This helps to show just how flimsy Willy's idea and assertions can be.

BEN [chuckling]: So this is Brooklyn, eh? [...] BEN: Opportunity is tremendous in Alaska, William. Surprised you're not up there.

The American West is portrayed as a land of opportunity waiting to be tapped. Willy is haunted by the fact that he didn't accompany his brother to Alaska. It seems like sometimes he feels that this missed opportunity is the thing that robbed him of a chance at the American Dream.

WILLY [with pity and resolve]: I'll see him in the morning; I'll have a nice talk with him. I'll get him a job selling. He could be big in no time. My God! Remember how they used to follow him around in high school? When he smiled at one of them their faces lit up. When he walked down the street... [He loses himself in reminiscences.]

Willy attributes Biff's former popularity and success to his smile. Now, however, it seems that Biff's smile and good looks just haven't been enough to get him to a stable place in life. Yes, it seems that Biff's attractiveness just hasn't gotten him that far.

BEN: At that age I had a very faulty view of geography, William. I discovered after a few days that I was heading due south, so instead of Alaska I ended up in Africa. LINDA: Africa! WILLY: The Gold Coast! BEN: Principally diamond mines.

Willy's and Linda's fascination with far-off lands is closely linked with their desire for escape and financial security. To Willy especially, Ben's exploits represent a lifestyle that is totally free, yet totally successful.

BEN: Principally diamond mines. LINDA: Diamond mines! BEN: Yes, my dear. But I've only a few minutes— WILLY: No! Boys! Boys! [Young Biff and Happy appear] Listen to this. This is your Uncle Ben, a great man! Tell my boys, Ben! BEN: Why, boys, when I was seventeen I walked into jungle and when I was twenty-one I walked out. [He laughs] and by God I was rich! WILLY [To the boys]: You see what I been talking about? The greatest things can happen!

Willy clings to Ben's material success as tangible evidence of his family's worth. He longs to measure up to the financial success of his brother. In many ways, Ben's success fuels Willy's misguided notion that riches are just around the corner.

LINDA: He'll find his way. WILLY: Sure. Certain men just don't get started till later in life. Like Thomas Edison, I think. Or B.F. Goodrich. One of them was deaf. [He starts for the bedroom doorway.] I'll put my money on Biff.

Willy clings to his hope that Biff will settle down and become a major business success despite the unlikelihood of such an event.

WILLY: Like a young god. Hercules—something like that. And the sun, the sun all around him. Remember how he waved to me? Right up from the field with the representatives of three colleges standing by? And the buyers I brought, and the cheers when he came out—Loman, Loman, Loman! God Almighty, he'll be great yet. A star like that, magnificent, can never really fade away.

Willy clings to memories of the distant past to find hope for the future. What's interesting is that we see and hear of these past events through Willy's distorted lens. There's really no telling if anything was ever as wonderful as he paints it.

WILLY: How can he find himself on a farm? Is that a life? A farmhand? In the beginning, when he was young, I thought, well, a young man, it's good for him to tramp around, take a lot of different jobs. But it's more than ten years now and he has yet to make thirty-five dollars a week!LINDA: He's finding himself, Willy.WILLY: Not finding yourself at the age of thirty-four is a disgrace!

Willy considers Biff's failure in business as a betrayal of his expectations. It is ironic, however, that, throughout the play, Willy seems to long for just the sort of simpler lifestyle that his son has created for himself. Willy's feelings of betrayal could be in some ways linked to feelings of jealousy toward his son.

WILLY [turning to Ben]: Business is bad, it's murderous. But not for me, of course.

Willy continually lies outright in order to try and impress Ben and make himself feel better. We wonder if Ben believes any of this— probably not. We're guessing that part of the reason that Willy isn't all that well-liked is because most people can see right through him.

BIFF: Why? You're making money, aren't you? HAPPY [moving about with energy, expressiveness]: All I can do now is wait for the merchandise manager to die. And suppose I get to be merchandise manager? He's a good friend of mine, and he just built a terrific estate on Long Island. And he lived there about two months and sold it, and now he's building another one. He can't enjoy it once it's finished. And I know that's just what I'd do. I don't know what the hell I'm workin' for. Sometimes I sit in my apartment—all alone. And I think of the rent I'm paying. And it's crazy. But then, it's what I always wanted. My own apartment, a car, plenty of women, and still, *******it, I'm lonely.

Although he has amassed concrete wealth, it is the intangible aspects of life that Happy craves. Material things and lots of hook-ups with random girls just don't seem to be the kind of success that Happy truly wants.

WILLY: Don't say? Tell you a secret, boys. Don't breathe it to a soul. Someday I'll have my own business, and I'll never have to leave home any more. HAPPY: Like Uncle Charley, heh? WILLY: Bigger than Uncle Charley! Because Charley is not liked. He's liked, but he's not—well liked.

Amidst his preoccupation with financial survival, Willy insists he will make it big some day and have the home life that he wants. Almost more important to him than actual successful business deals is being liked.

BIFF [deciding]: Lend me ten bucks, will ya? I want to buy some new ties. HAPPY: I'll take you to a place I know. Beautiful stuff. Wear one of my stripped shirts tomorrow.

Biff and Happy's emphasis on Biff's appearance distracts them from more relevant reality (the fact that Oliver won't recognize Biff). They've somehow deluded themselves into believing that, if Biff looks good enough, Oliver will start forking over the money—even though he hasn't seen Biff in years.

BIFF: Well, I spent six or seven years after high school trying to work myself up. Shipping clerk, salesman, business of one kind or another. And it's a measly manner of existence. To get on that subway on the hot mornings in summer. To devote your whole life to keeping stock, or making phone calls, or selling or buying. To suffer fifty weeks of the year for the sake of a two week vacation, when all you really desire is to be outdoors with your shirt off. And always to have to get ahead of the next fella. And still—that's how you build a future.

Biff struggles with the competition inherent in the American way, but still holds it as a truth that he must take a path unpleasant for him in order to succeed. It seems that he longs for a life that's more simple—a working-class lifestyle that his father sees as beneath him.

BEN: And good luck with your—what do you do? WILLY: Selling. BEN: Yes. Well... [He raises his hand in a farewell to all.] WILLY: No, Ben. I don't want you to think... [He takes Ben's arm to show him.] It's Brooklyn, I know, but we hunt too. BEN: Really, now. WILLY: Oh, sure, there's snakes and rabbits and—that's why I moved out here. Why, Biff can fell any one of these trees in no time! Boys! Go right over to where they're building the apartment house and get some sand. We're gonna rebuild the entire front stoop right now! Watch this, Ben!

Desperate to impress Ben, Willy lies through his teeth and begins to believe what he is saying. How often do people really go hunting in Brooklyn? Notice too, that he encourages his boys to steal from the construction site next door so that he can show how manly he and his sons are. By encouraging them to live dishonestly, Willy undermines the moral character of his sons.

BIFF [with enthusiasm]: Listen, why don't you come out West with me? HAPPY: You and I, heh? BIFF: Sure, maybe we could buy a ranch. Raise cattle, use our muscles. Men built like we are should be working out in the open.

Happy and Biff fantasize about escape from the city and their lives in the business world. The world of manual labor is a welcome change to the rat race of city life. In the big scheme of things, though, is the life of the working class really any more free?

LINDA: We should've bought the land next door. WILLY: The street is lined with cars. There's not a breath of fresh air in the neighborhood. The grass don't grow anymore, you can't raise a carrot in the backyard. They should've had a law against apartment houses. Remember those two beautiful elm trees out there? When I and Biff hung the swing between them? LINDA: Yeah, like being a million miles from the city.

Linda and Willy's reflections reveal their craving for escape from their urban neighborhood. They long for the days when the neighborhood was more green. (Throughout the play, urbanization and commercialism are linked to ideas of confinement.)

LINDA: I'm—I'm ashamed to. How can I mention it to him? Every day I go down and take away that little rubber pipe. But when he comes home, I put it back where it was. How can I insult him that way? I don't know what to do. I live from day to day boys. I tell you, I know every thought in his mind. It sounds so old-fashioned and silly, but I tell you he's put his whole life into you and you've turned your backs on him. [She is bent over the chair, weeping, her head in her hands]. Biff, I swear to God! Biff, his life is in your hands!

Linda feels that her sons have betrayed their father by turning their backs on him. Here, she insinuates that that betrayal is a big part of what has driven Willy to contemplate suicide.

HAPPY [enthralled]: That's what I dream about Biff. Sometimes I wanna just rip my clothes off in the middle of the store and outbox that *******ed merchandise manager. I mean I can outbox, outlift and outrun anybody in that store, and I have to take orders from those petty, common sons of bitches till I can't stand it anymore.

Though Happy prefers a more primal form of competition, he cannot let go of the idea that success comes from the businesslike competition of the American office place. Like Biff and Willy, he longs for a simpler life, but is trapped within the hamster wheel of American capitalism.

WILLY: That is a one million dollar idea. LINDA: Marvelous! BIFF: I'm in great shape as far as that's concerned! HAPPY: And the beauty of it is, Biff, it wouldn't be like a business. We'd be out playin' ball again... BIFF [enthused]: Yeah, that's... WILLY: Million-dollar!

While Biff and Happy are interested in finding work that is tolerable, Willy is fixated on ensuring that the boys find a lucrative profession likely to lead them down the path to success and greatness. Is Willy so bad for wanting this? Are Biff and Happy so bad for wanting to be... happy?

WILLY: That's just what I mean, Bernard can get the best marks in school, y'understand, but when he gets out in the business world, y'understand, you are going to be five times ahead of him. That's why I thank Almighty God you're both built like Adonises. Because the man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want. You take me, for instance. I never have to wait in line to see a buyer. "Willy Loman is here!" That's all they have to know and I go right through. [...] WILLY: A hundred and twenty dollars! My God, if business doesn't pick up I don't know what I'm gonna do!

While Willy continues see himself as successful and well-liked, reality occasionally forces him to acknowledge his financial problems. It's hard to ignore it when you just don't have enough money to pay for what you need.

WILLY: I'm fat. I'm very—foolish to look at, Linda. I didn't tell you, but Christmas time I happened to be calling on F.H. Stewarts, and a salesman I know, as I was going in to see the buyer I hear him say something about—walrus. And I—I cracked him right across the face. I won't take that. I simply will not take that. But they do laugh at me. I know that. LINDA: Darling... WILLY: I gotta overcome it. I know I gotta overcome it. I'm not dressing to advantage, maybe.

Willy assumes his business problems have to do primarily with his appearance. It doesn't seem to occur to him that his real problem may be that people see right through his flimsy, image-obsessed personality. The play may be pointing out that people of real substance are the ones who get real respect.

BIFF: He's off salary. My God, working on commission! HAPPY: Well, let's face it: he's no hot-shot selling man. Except that sometimes, you have to admit, he's a sweet personality.

Yep, it looks like Willy's "sweet personality" hasn't really served him that well. He's been demoted at work and is even soon to be fired. Happy's comments may suggest that he is no longer convinced that personality is as central to success as he previously thought. But we wonder: if Willy was actually as popular as he says he is, would it have made a difference?

WILLY: Oh, I'll knock 'em dead next week. I'll go to Hartford. I'm very well liked in Hartford. You know, the trouble is, Linda, people don't seem to take to me.[They move onto the forestage] LINDA: Oh, don't be foolish. WILLY: I know it when I walk in. They seem to laugh at me. LINDA: Why? Why would they laugh at you? Don't talk that way, Willy.[Willy moves to the edge of the stage. Linda goes into the kitchen and starts to darn stockings.] WILLY: I don't know the reason for it, but they just pass me by. I'm not noticed.

Willy contradicts himself by saying that he is both well-liked and ignored, suggesting that he frequently deceives himself about his success. However, the truth seems to always be just under the surface. This tortures him and eventually drives him insane— literally.

WILLY: He knows something about it! You know sporting goods better than Spalding for God's sake! How much is he giving you? BIFF: I don't know, I didn't even see him yet, but— WILLY: Then what're you talkin' about? BIFF [getting angry]: Well, all I said was I'm gonna see him, that's all!

Willy deceives himself into believing that Biff has already sealed a deal that his son has not yet even acted on. Willy's self-deception eventually drives Biff to lash out at his father.

WILLY [stopping the incipient argument, to Happy]: Sure, he's gotta practice with a regulation ball, doesn't he? [To Biff] Coach'll probably congratulate you on your initiative! BIFF: Oh, he keeps congratulating my initiative all the time, pop. WILLY: That's because he likes you. If somebody else took that ball there'd be an uproar.

Willy elevates being well-liked over all virtues when he suggests that Biff can get away with stealing because of his popularity.

LINDA: Willy, dear. Talk to them again. There's no reason why you can't work in New York. WILLY: They don't need me in New York. I'm the New England man. I'm vital in New England.

Willy falsely insists that he is a critical player in his business in order to bolster his sense of self-worth. Even though his sales haven't been good for a while, he argues that he is a really important man.

WILLY: I got an awful scare. Nearly hit a kid in Yonkers. God! Why didn't I go to Alaska with my brother Ben that time! Ben! That man was a genius, that man was success incarnate! What a mistake! He begged me to go.

Willy feels trapped in his life of financial struggle in New York and longs for escape. He assumes that escape from the city will also mean escape from his current failures at work.

CHARLEY: You want a job? WILLY: I got a job, I told you that. [After a slight pause] What the hell are you offering me a job for? CHARLEY: Don't get insulted. WILLY: Don't insult me.

Willy has always tried to act like he is cooler than Charley. In reality, though, he's always been really jealous of his neighbor. When Charley offers Willy a job, it hurts Willy's pride. If people know that he's working for Charley, then there will be no denying the fact Charley has done better in life—and Willy's delusional pride just won't allow that.

WILLY: There's more people! That's what's ruining this country! The competition is maddening! Smell the stink from that apartment house! And the one on the other side...

Willy insists that his family's lack of success is due to population growth and not his faulty vision of the American Dream. Willy feels trapped and confined even in his own home. He feels stifled by the fact that there are so many people right on top of him.

WILLY: ... was rich! That's just the spirit I want to imbue them with! To walk into a jungle! I was right! I was right! I was right!

Willy interprets Ben's tangible wealth as proof of the worth of his family and himself. He wants his sons to be like his brother—unafraid to go out and make their own success.

BIFF: I guess so. I know something about it and— WILLY: He knows something about it! You know sporting goods better than Spalding for God's sake!

Willy is deceiving himself yet again. You're probably not surprised. Here, he is attempting to convince Biff that, because Biff was a high school football star, he knows more about sporting goods than professionals in the industry. Umm, not so much, Willy.

WILLY: You and Hap and I, and I'll show you all the towns. America is full of beautiful towns and fine, upstanding people. And they know me, boys, they know me up and down New England. The finest people. And when I bring you fellas up, there'll be open sesame for all of us, 'cause one thing, boys: I have friends. I can park my car in any street in New England, and the cops protect it like their own.

Willy's characterization of the American people as kind and virtuous to anyone who is personally attractive demonstrates his utter faith in his twisted version of the American Dream. Willy is a slave to the delusional idea that he is in fact the poster boy for that dream—that he has "made it." Despite evidence that Willy has few friends and is unsuccessful, his inflated sense of pride leads him to insist he is well-liked. Biff and Happy are completely enamored with their father when they are young; they totally buy into Willy's B.S. Later on, however, his failures become all too clear.

LINDA: I'm just wondering if Oliver will remember him. You think he might? WILLY [coming out of the bathroom in his pajamas]: Remember him? What's the matter with you, you crazy? If he'd stayed with Oliver he'd be on top by now! Wait'll Oliver gets a look at him. You don't know the average caliber any more. The average young man today—[he's getting into bed]—is got a caliber of zero. Greatest thing in the world for him was to bum around.

Willy's comments cross the line from hopefulness about the future to the suggestion that his aspirations are already reality. He clings to the delusional idea that Biff is somehow superior to the average young man.

WILLY [sitting down at the kitchen table]: Huh! Why did she have to wax the floors herself? Every time she waxes the floors she keels over. She knows that!

Willy's disgust at Linda waxing the floors herself suggests his false pride about their economic status. They clearly cannot afford to hire someone to wax their floor, yet he constantly wants to pretend that this isn't so.

BERNARD: If he doesn't buckle down, he'll flunk math! [He goes off]. LINDA: He's right, Willy, you've gotta— WILLY: [exploding at her]: There's nothing the matter with him! You want him to be a worm like Bernard? He's got spirit, personality...

Willy's emphasis on reputation blinds him to the reality of Biff's academic problems. By constantly making excuses for his favorite son, Willy inadvertently stands in the way of Biff's success. Biff's reputation will only take him so far if he can't even pass high school.

WILLY: What's the mystery? The man knew what he wanted and went out and got it! Walked into a jungle, and comes out, the age of twenty-one, and he's rich! The world is an oyster, but you don't crack it open on a mattress!

Willy's insistence that finding success is as easy as wanting it reveals total faith in the idea that he can get rich quick. It's interesting that his brother actually made his fast fortune in Africa rather than America. We wonder how this computes with Willy's faith in the American Dream.

WILLY [continuing over Happy's line]: They laugh at me, heh? Go to Filene's, go to the Hub, go to Slattery's. Boston. Call out the name Willy Loman and see what happens! Big shot! BIFF: All right, Pop. WILLY: Big! BIFF: All right!

Willy's insistence that he is well-known and well-liked reflects his increasing blindness to reality. To his family, associates, and definitely the audience, the fact that he is unpopular is totally clear by now.

WILLY: Biff Loman is lost. In the greatest country in the world a young man with such—personal attractiveness, gets lost. And such a hard worker. There's one thing about Biff— he's not lazy. LINDA: Never. WILLY: [with pity and resolve]: I'll see him in the morning; I'll have a nice talk with him. I'll get him a job selling. He could be big in no time.

Willy's reflections suggest complete faith in the notion that in America, anyone who works hard and is personally compelling is destined to succeed. Beyond that, they have a right to succeed.

WILLY: Bernard is not well liked, is he? BIFF: He's liked, but he's not well liked. WILLY: That's just what I mean, Bernard can get the best marks in school, y'understand, but when he gets out in the business world, y'understand, you are going to be five times ahead of him. That's why I thank Almighty God you're both built like Adonises. Because the man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want. You take me, for instance. I never have to wait in line to see a buyer. "Willy Loman is here!" That's all they have to know and I go right through.

Willy's self congratulation and assertion that sheer popularity matters above all else is ironic in the context of Bernard's business success and Biff's failure. It shows that Willy's idea of what helps to make a person successful just might not match up with reality. Biff has nowhere near the reputation that Bernard does.

WILLY: Now all you need is a golf club and you can go upstairs and go to sleep. [To Ben] Great athlete! Between him and his son Bernard they can't hammer a nail.

Willy, like his sons, feels better able to compete in the physical sense than in the economic realm central to the American way. What's interesting is that this is one of the few things that Willy isn't delusional about. His boys are better at sports, and he is good at building things. Has Willy simply pursued the wrong American Dream for his entire life? Would he have been happier as a laborer rather than a salesman?

WILLY: Don't be so modest. You always started too low. Walk in with a big laugh. Don't look worried. Start off with a couple of good stories to lighten things up. It's not what you say, it's how you say it—because personality always wins the day.

Willy, who ironically considers himself an expert on being well-liked, believes that personality is what matters most. Once again it's not like this is totally untrue. A good personality is probably a really valuable thing for a salesman to have.